


Aroma

by thedeerandthedragon



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 17:13:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18877585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedeerandthedragon/pseuds/thedeerandthedragon
Summary: Donghyuck sets Mark an interesting guessing game





	Aroma

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone's the same age in this, 17/18 years old :)

Mark lifted Donghyuck’s arm up to his nose and inhaled deeply, this was a fortnightly occurrence. 

It began from when Mark had suddenly realised Donghyuck had changed his shower gel. He was able to notice this because Donghyuck’s scent had changed from the regular citrus smell of ‘Lemon & Sublime’ to something sweeter. Mark had asked Donghyuck about it in the most casual way he could, but it wouldn’t be Donghyuck if he didn’t overreact. 

He turned it into a game and put Mark through a painstaking few minutes trying to guess the smell. Eventually he settled on strawberry and Donghyuck delightfully confirmed it was ‘Strawberry Surprise’. From then on, Donghyuck went out of his way to find the most obscure types of shower gel. This time Donghyuck picked a ‘fireplace’ one which he honestly just thought smelled like burnt wood. However, Mark had taken a particular liking to it and often buried his nose in the crook of Donghyuck’s neck to remember the scent. Mark said it reminded him of his Grandparent’s house in the suburbs. He later found out it was because they had had a fireplace, this was where the families would spend Christmas hence it held very fond memories for Mark. The smell soon led to affectionate memories for Donghyuck too! 

\--------------------------------------------------------------

It was a typical day after school, the boys were messing around in the common room. More so Jaemin who was chasing after Chenle and Jisung for God knows what reason. They were all waiting for Mark who was at a Maths club to prepare for university exams. The rest opted to stay behind with the excuse of waiting for Mark when really, they were too lazy to trudge home until there were no excuses left. Donghyuck, Jeno and Renjun were playing cards which unsurprisingly, Donghyuck kept winning at. Eventually Mark joined them by jumping onto the sofa beside Donghyuck, leaning his head on Donghyuck’s shoulder with his eyes shut. Jeno gave Donghyuck a questioning look to which he shrugged in reply, trying not to jostle Mark around too much. 

Being winter time, the sky darkened quite quickly, so by half 5 they decided to call it a day and Donghyuck attempted to poke Mark awake. Mark just stood up with Donghyuck and walked alongside him without opening his eyes.  
“Dude why are you so tired?” Donghyuck asked Mark, no regard for whether the other would bump into things or not.  
“Forgot about mock exam I had today” Mark mumbled in response. ‘Huh, typical Mark’ Donghyuck thought with a roll of his eyes, holding the door open.  
Before Mark could even step forward, Renjun bounded ahead of them holding Jeno’s scarf of which the owner of soon followed. Chenle and Jisung followed and also stepped quickly through, taking advantage of Donghyuck holding the door. All the while, Mark hadn’t moved and Donghyuck had to shove him from behind to get him moving again.  
“Dude you can’t fall asleep standing” Donghyuck hissed, all of his effort going into keeping Mark awake and upright  
“Try me” Mark replied, dropping even more of his weight onto Donghyuck.  
“I will let go of you”  
“‘M sorry” Mark finally opened his eyes and rubbed them, letting out a wide yawn, the resemblance to a lion cub was uncanny. Just then, a dark blue material was thrust into his open mouth, followed by Jeno crying “my scarf!”, Jaemin and Renjun had teamed up against Jeno and his beloved scarf. Mark removed the material and offered it to Jeno who shook his head with a “keep it”, he shrugged and shoved it into his bag knowing Jeno would want it back anyway. Jeno had set off in pursuit of Renjun and Jaemin, their mischievous grins getting further away from the others as they attempted to run away from Jeno’s wrath. Donghyuck giggled at his friends’ antics and continued to walk alongside Mark, Chenle and Jisung were slightly ahead and appeared to be looking at something on Jisung’s phone. Donghyuck got his own phone out and was lazily scrolling through his email when Mark linked his arm through Donghyuck’s and rested his head on his shoulder, dozing off again. Donghyuck attempted to push him off, but Mark had an iron grip. It didn't help that Mark whispered “you smell good, leave me be” in a hoarse voice, so Donghyuck decided he couldn’t be bothered to push Mark off and opted to semi drag Mark towards the bus stop with the rest of their mates.

Renjun, Jaemin and Jeno had arrived at the stop long before Mark and Donghyuck, but by the looks of it Jeno had given them all a proper work out because they were slumped on the bench, chests still heaving. Upon perfect timing, the bus arrived, and the boys piled on (after Donghyuck had to prod Mark to tap his bus pass on the scanner). Despite living just two stops away, Chenle always joined the others and waved them off, Mark only opened his eyes to bid him goodbye before returning to sleep on Donghyuck’s shoulder. Donghyuck didn’t mind the fact that Mark was using him as a pillow, it’s just that he kept taking long sniffs from time to time. Jisung couldn’t hold back and asked, “what is with him??”  
“I have a shower gel which smells like a log fire and he’s taken a particular liking to it, weirdo” Donghyuck replied  
“I can still hear you” Mark said, making Donghyuck and Jisung jump slightly,  
“Stop moving,” he instructed, holding Donghyuck still.  
“So annoying” Donghyuck huffed, but he complied nonetheless.

By the time the bus had reached their stop, Mark was out like a light, so Donghyuck employed Jaemin to pull on his cheeks. Donghyuck would never admit the tousle-haired, red-cheeked Mark was the most adorable kind. That was saying something because Mark was always pretty darn cute with his wide eyes and kind face. 

Jeno and Jisung were fortunate enough to live close to the bus stop so they bid goodbye to the others first. Jaemin still held a side of Marks cheek making him look similar to an Aardman animations character.  
“Ah dang it” Mark said, pulling out Jeno's scarf “forgot to give this back to him”  
“just hand it to him tomorrow” Donghyuck supplied  
“It’s okay” Renjun cut in “I'll give it now, need to ask him stuff about computer science coursework”  
“Sure” Mark replied, passing the scarf over. They also exchanged goodbyes and ‘see you tomorrow’ then just leaving Mark, Donghyuck and Jaemin.  
“Let's go, it's getting cold” Donghyuck said, pulling the other two forward. 

Jaemin’s house was only a little way down the road so he clapped Mark and Donghyuck on the back as a wordless goodbye before stepping into his front garden. Mark and Donghyuck continued to amble down the road, Mark still stuck fast to Donghyuck's side. At some point Mark dropped his head onto the others shoulder meaning his hair kept tickling Donghyuck's chin and neck, but it was too intimate for Donghyuck to move away from. It was no secret the two had a different energy beyond the ‘best friends’ label and it was felt more painfully when the two were alone together. 

The streetlights cast a glow on Mark’s bright hair, they had bleached it as a dare from a wild game at Chenle’s house a couple of weeks before. It enhanced his already innocent appearance making him look positively angelic in Donghyuck’s eyes, it felt like a slice of summer in the bitter cold of winter. Donghyuck’s cheeks grew warm as he realised the proximity at which he was observing Mark and snapped his head forward, fastening his step. Mark groaned at the increase in pace but didn’t remove his head from Donghyuck’s shoulder. 

Eventually they came to a stop outside Mark’s home, Donghyuck tapped the other to alert him. Mark let a wide yawn once his head was upright, times like this his resemblance to a lion cub was practically identical, especially with his unruly blonde hair. At that moment, their faces were extremely close and Donghyuck could see Mark’s eyes glittering as he blinked out the tiredness. 

“Stop staring” Mark said with a small, playful smirk, voice raspy from the lack of use, it made Donghyuck’s heart rate quicken.  
“I can’t look away” Donghyuck replied as a surge of bravery coursed through him causing the energy between them to become charged in the dark evening.

Mark turned to look at him properly and the intense gaze made Donghyuck gulp. Mark then moved to cover Donghyuck’s eyes with his hand before slowly leaning in and pressing their lips together, the other hand wrapped around Donghyuck’s waist.  
It had been a long time coming, but that didn’t stop Donghyuck’s heart from nearly bursting out of his chest as their lips made contact. He was surprised to taste the flavour of mint faintly and before any more thoughts could pass through Donghyuck’s mind at high speed, Mark removed his lips (and hands) and stepped back a little. Donghyuck realised he hadn’t really savoured the feeling of Mark’s and lips pulled him forward using the lapels of his blazer, slotting their lips together more comfortably this time. His lips were warm and inviting, Donghyuck felt like he was falling, but it wasn’t at all scary. Donghyuck brought his fingertips up to caress Mark’s cheekbones to which Mark responded by encasing Donghyuck’s waist with both his arms and bringing him as close as possible, they were truly drinking each other in.

They finally broke apart when their lungs screamed for oxygen, Mark perched his chin onto Donghyuck’s shoulder breathing heavier than usual. Donghyuck leaned into him, using his one arm to hold him around the middle and the other to stroke Mark’s nape, it had unintentionally become a warm hug. They stayed like that for a while until Mark croaked “Hyuck, you smell so good”, he giggled in response still not feeling the same love for the burnt wood fragrance unlike Mark.  
“Do you know what you smell like?” Donghyuck asked,  
“No idea, something good I hope”  
“Laundry detergent” and Donghyuck could finally bury his nose into Mark’s collar as the other had always done with his. Mark swatted him away with a “that tickles”, but went for holding onto Donghyuck’s hands, fond smile plastered to his face. 

Donghyuck decided to loosen his fingers first (not before kissing the back of Mark’s hand softly a few times) and initiated the farewell, their friendship had been thrown into a completely different level, but they both knew there wouldn’t be any awkwardness held between them, they were ready to accept their relationship developing.

“See you tomorrow” Donghyuck said with a small wave,  
“It’s the weekend” Mark responded jokingly, Donghyuck gave him an exasperated look causing Mark to laugh,  
“Alright, see you tomorrow Hyuck” Mark gave a quick salute. As he was digging into his pockets for his keys, he also pulled out the classic finger heart causing Donghyuck to squawk a “get lost!” at him even though that was exactly the kind of cheesiness Donghyuck adored. 

Once Mark had gone inside, Donghyuck commenced the walk to his own house which was only a few minutes away. A thought struck him, so he pulled out his phone to send a text to Jeno.  
Donghyuck: You are now my best friend  
Jeno: You two argued?  
Jeno: We were gone for two seconds !!!  
Donghyuck: Nope  
Donghyuck: We are officially best boyfriends

Jeno’s caller ID appeared and Donghyuck swiped to pick up and was glad he wasn’t wearing earphones because Jeno was screaming. He picked up Renjun in the background asking Jeno why he was shouting, Donghyuck just chuckled and let him continue until he ran out of breath, so he could explain properly.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you're having a wonderful day  
> ~ would greatly appreciate feedback ^_^


End file.
